Putt-Putt Perfection

“Everybody has their one thing that they’re good at, and if you ever find it, you want to stick with it.”

—Rick Baird

On April 9, 2011, at a tournament in Richmond, Virginia, an IT manager named Rick Baird notched 18 straight hole-in-one shots to record a perfect putt-putt score. In more than 50 years of sanctioned competition, it was just the third time that anyone had achieved the feat.

Putt-putt is different from miniature golf. It’s played only on official courses; there are no pirate ships, no windmills, and no holes that cannot be conquered with one stroke — if you execute the perfect shot. On that day in 2011, Baird executed the perfect shot 18 times in a row.

Mickey Duzyj, an illustrator whose work you’ve seen on Grantland, wanted to tell Rick’s story. He told me about Rick and the community of putt-putt enthusiasts he belongs to. I was immediately sold. Mickey partnered with Chris Isenberg, Jeremy Johnstone, and the team at Victory Journal to bring this project to life.